Topic: Walker’s lucky Mournes escape after storm traps him on Donard (Read 3316 times)

admin · « **on:** April 17, 2015 »

Quote

A LONE walker was led to safety in an emergency night-time mountain rescue operation at the weekend after getting lost in severe weather conditions.

The man had scaled Slieve Donard on Saturday evening and had intended to set up camp at the mountain top.

However, he got into difficulty when weather conditions suddenly deteriorated, losing his bearings in low cloud, freezing temperatures and high winds.

With some of his equipment blowing away in the wind as he struggled to take shelter, the man eventually called 999 at 9pm when an 18-strong team from the Mourne Mountain Rescue team rallied to the call.

The team’s training officer, Marty McMullan, said the man, who had previous climbing experience, was right to call the rescue service when he did due to the potentially life-threatening nature of the mountain conditions.

“When he phoned us his hands were already numb and he was finding it difficult to put his coat on,” he said.

“The wind chill was quite considerable and when he tried to put his tent up the ferocious winds blew his gear away.

“It was lucky he had the presence of mind to call for help because hypothermia kicks in very quickly without you realising.

“By that time, people do not have the clarity to make an emergency call so this man did the right thing.”

With the climber unsure of his exact location, mountain rescue workers talked to him by telephone while a police helicopter used heat seeking equipment to determine his whereabouts.

Mr McMullan said the PSNI picked

up a heat source in the search area, which he said was reassuring for the rescue team.

“Sometimes people do not know which mountain they are on and getting that confirmation on Saturday night that we were in the right area was very reassuring,” he said.

When they found the man, who was a few hundred meters from the mountain summit, he was treated for hypothermia and wrapped in foil jackets as blizzards struck.

“The ground below him was very treacherous but the spot where we found him was more secure,” said Mr. McMullan.

After stabilising the man at the scene, he was able to descend the mountain with the rescue team reaching the Bloody Bridge at 1am.

Although the rescued man told workers he had never before experienced such harsh conditions, Mr McMullan said the weather was not unusual for April, which he said was still wintery in the mountains.

“Mountain conditions do change rapidly and sometimes you can get away with it if the change is brief,” he said.

“In this case the man was trapped.”

http://www.thedownrecorder.co.uk/pages/?title=Walker%92s_lucky_Mournes_escape_after_storm_traps_him_on_Donard

whoRya · « **Reply #1 on:** April 17, 2015 »

I was up in Donard Wood that night and was watching the helicopter. With the length of time it was about it was obvious that something was happening. Glad that the climber was brought off the hill safely.

Ed · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2015 »

Can go from wonderfully clement to absolutely wild in the blink of an eye sometimes.
Glad he's ok. Shame he lost his tent, but coulda been a lot worse!

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Author Topic: Walker’s lucky Mournes escape after storm traps him on Donard (Read 3316 times)

admin

Walker’s lucky Mournes escape after storm traps him on Donard

whoRya

Re: Walker’s lucky Mournes escape after storm traps him on Donard

Ed

Re: Walker’s lucky Mournes escape after storm traps him on Donard

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